Americans
have become increasingly aware of health and environmental problems associated
with the careless or improper management of municipal solid waste. In many
densely populated regions, increasing waste volumes, shrinking landfill
capacity, and rising costs of disposal have added to our concerns about the
need for proper waste management.

Recycling
is becoming increasingly important in municipal solid waste management. Many
communities have recognized the value of recycling in waste management for some
time. Volunteer programs exist in many towns and counties, and some States have
recently enacted mandatory recycling laws. In addition, the recycling of scrap
metals, paper, and glass has become a well-developed industry. Despite these
efforts, however, only 10 percent of our Nation's municipal solid waste is
recycled; nearly 80 percent of municipal solid waste is disposed of in
landfills and the remaining 10 percent is incinerated.

The
benefits of recycling waste materials are substantial. Recycling saves energy and
thus preserves important fuel resources. It also avoids the pollution created
in extracting resources from their natural environment. Through recycling,
wastes are diverted from landfills and our limited landfill space is preserved.
Communities can use recycling to generate revenues from the materials recovered
from the waste stream. Finally, recycling can save us money by avoiding the
high costs of landfills or incineration.

These
benefits can only be realized through more recycling. The Environmental
Protection Agency considers feasible a recycling level of 25 percent nationally
by the early 1990's through the efforts of States and municipalities and the
cooperation of individual households and businesses in separating recyclable
materials from their waste and in not generating unnecessary waste.

The
Congress, by House Joint Resolution 469, has designated June 1988 as ``National
Recycling Month'' and has authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation in observance of this event.

Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim June 1988 as National
Recycling Month. I urge the people of the United States to observe this month
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of June, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and
twelfth.

Ronald
Reagan

[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register, 10:51 a.m., June 15, 1988]